Food Porn: Essex and Vessel

"Former Esquire 'best bar' Vessel, which famously denied its patrons vodka, is back downtown after a two-year sabbatical rooted in a lease dispute. And over in Ballard, acclaimed wood-fired-pizza salon Delancey has opened an adjunct cocktail bar in a space vacated by an umbrella-rental shop. While the restaurant could previously be counted on to scare up a martini made with microdistilled gin, its spawn, Essex, keeps a gin-and-elderflower spritzer on tap. Vessel and Essex are very different bars, but they convey the same triumphant message: It's a great time to drink in Seattle."